Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, Jacques

Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, Jacques zhäk bo͞oshā´ də krĕvkör´ də pĕrt [key], 1788–1868, French writer and archaeologist. He was the first to provide evidence that humans had existed in the Pleistocene epoch, thereby disputing the theory of diluvial catastrophism . He collected flint artifacts near Abbeville, France, and demonstrated that these manufactured objects came from the same stratum as Ice Age fauna. See Paleolithic period .